To Asa Gray 2 May [1856]
Summary
Suggests affinities of the U. S. flora that he considers would be worth investigating. Wants to know the ranges of species in large and small genera.
Questions AG on naturalised plants; whether any are social in U. S. which are not so elsewhere and how variable they are compared with indigenous species. Would like to know of any differences in the variability of species at different points of their ranges and also the physical states of plants at the extremes of their ranges.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 2 May [1856] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (4) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1863 |
Matches: 14 hits
- … 369– 403. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844–7. Flora Antarctica. 1 vol. and 1 vol. of plates. Pt …
- … Ross. London: Reeve Brothers. Wahlenberg, Göran. 1824–6. Flora Suecica. 2 pts. Upsala. …
- … Suggests affinities of the U. S. flora that he considers would be worth investigating. …
- … first part of his paper ‘Statistics of the flora of the northern United States’ ( A. Gray …
- … del Fuego are not separately listed in Flora Antarctica ( Hooker 1844–7 ), but presumably …
- … Gray would extract them from the Fuegian flora details. A. de Candolle 1855 , 1: 457–73. …
- … 1985–. Gray, Asa. 1856–7. Statistics of the flora of the northern United States. American …
- … be a real kindness to me. — I suppose your Flora is too great; but a simple list in close …
- … in introduction to N. Zealand & other Flora. — I am sure I have given you a larger dose …
- … and convenient form, the elements of flora I was occupied with. ’ ( A. Gray 1856–7 , p. …
- … a discussion of the alpine and sub-alpine flora of the United States ( A. Gray 1856–7 , …
- … 226–9. Gray attempted a ‘Comparison of the flora of the northern United States with that …
- … calculations made on data for the Cape flora of South Africa, CD concluded by stating: ‘So …
- … Nothing would give me a better idea of Flora of U.S. than the proportion of the genera to …
To J. D. Hooker 5 [July 1856]
Summary
CD cannot swallow continental extensions. Has written to Lyell giving a lengthy criticism of the concept [see 1910] and has asked Lyell to forward the letter to JDH.
Perhaps Aristolochia and Viscum are protandrous.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 5 [July 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 166 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1918 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … a general relation to southern circumpolar Flora, as much as to Fuegia. But if many of the …
- … Bibliography Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844–7. Flora Antarctica. 1 vol. and 1 vol. of plates. …
- … over your confounded Antarctic isl d . flora. Will you read over the Tristan list, & see …
- … distribution that arose from Hooker’s work on the flora of the Antarctic islands ( J. D. …
- … to explain the close similarities in their floras without invoking any former land-bridges …
- … In Natural selection , pp. 560–1, CD gave a summary of the flora of Tristan d’Acunha. …
- … He considered it to be related to the flora of Tierra del Fuego rather than of South …
- … s closest neighbour. The character of the flora of Tristan d’Acunha is discussed in J. D. …
From H. C. Watson 26 November 1856
Summary
Responds to CD’s query on Subularia and Limosella. There are discrepancies among authorities on whether Subularia flowers out of water. Limosella certainly flowers out of water.
Author: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 26 Nov 1856 |
Classmark: | DAR 207: 19 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2002 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … were standard reference works on the British flora. Koch 1843–4 . See letter from C. C. …
- … Hooker, William Jackson. 1830. The British flora; comprising the phænogamous, or flowering …
- … Wilhelm Daniel Joseph. 1843–4. Synopsis florae Germanicae et Helveticae, exhibens stirpes …
- … Gebhardt & Reisland. Lightfoot, John. 1777. Flora Scotica; or, a systematic arrangement in …
- … Smith, James Edward. 1824–36. The English flora. 5 vols. in 6. Vol. 5, pt 1 (mosses …
- … parvi albi explicantur”— Koch Synopsis Floræ Germanicæ et Helveticæ, ed. 2 p. 73. Of …
To J. D. Hooker 1 December [1856]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 1 Dec [1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 185 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2008 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Questions JDH on separation of sexes in trees in New Zealand flora. …
- … Bibliography Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1853–5. Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ. 2 vols. Pt 2 of The …
- … Juniper Bushes. — I think in your N. Zealand Flora you have given the number of plants of …
- … worth your having to consult your own Flora. — What say you? Shall I send the M.S. list? …
- … result. If N. Zealand with so different a Flora gave at all same result, it would appear …
From J. D. Hooker 7 December 1856
Summary
Has done New Zealand flora calculations. Results support CD’s theory of necessity of crossing. Trees tend to have separate sexes.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 Dec 1856 |
Classmark: | DAR 100: 113–14 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2014 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Has done New Zealand flora calculations. Results support CD’s theory of necessity of …
- … Kessmann. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1853–5. Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ. 2 vols. Pt 2 of The botany …
- … pp. 61–2). Hooker was working on his flora of Tasmania ( J. D. Hooker 1855 [–60]). …
- … now 108 trees in all; whereas in N. Zeald Flora Introd Essay XXVIII I say there are 113—a …
- … deal too wise in my generation to say in N.Z. Flora how many are monoeecious, dioecious & …
- … your theory. ramme I will do the V.D.L. Flora for you far better in a couple of months. I …
From Asa Gray [early August 1856]
Summary
Believes intermediate varieties are generally less numerous in individuals than the two states that they connect.
Discusses the difficulties of deciding what is the typical form of a species
and gives some opinions on the variability of introduced species compared with indigenous species.
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [early Aug 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 165: 93 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1934 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … first part of Gray’s ‘Statistics of the flora of the northern United States’ ( A. Gray …
- … 1985–. Gray, Asa. 1856–7. Statistics of the flora of the northern United States. American …
- … the last page, that you may see what our flora amounts to. The genera of the Crypt. Ferns— …
- … Arranged list of the natural orders of the flora of the northern United States, with the …
- … that—speaking of plants of a well-known flora—that what we call intermediate varieties are …
- … connect. That this would be the case in a Flora where things are put as they naturally …
To C. J. F. Bunbury 21 April [1856]
Summary
CD writes on geographical distribution – "a grand game of chess with the world for a board".
Gives his hypothetical explanation why zoology of Cape [of Good Hope] is not so peculiar as its botany: it was once a group of islands – later united.
Tries hard to set forth the difficulties of his [species] theory.
Tells CJFB in confidence of his theory of the glacial epoch and its effect on plant distribution, such as identical species being found on summits of mountains in the tropics. Invites him to attack his "doctrine".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
Date: | 21 Apr [1856] |
Classmark: | Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds (Bunbury Family Papers E18/700/1/9/6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1856 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … 1859. Richard, Achille. [1847]. Tentamen Floræ Abyssinicæ seu enumeratio plantarum. Pt 3, …
- … a very great interest about the Cape Flora & Fauna, & I thank you much for your letter, …
- … Thomas Lowe was also at work on A manual flora of Madeira (Lowe 1857[–72]). In 1856, CD …
- … the distribution of the existing fauna and flora of the British Isles, and the geological …
- … from M r . Lowe, he is going to publish a Flora, & he has sent me a curious account of …
- … P. Santo. A careful comparison of the Floras of Madeira, Azores, & Canary Is d . would, I …
- … of the views of Forbes and CD on Arctic–alpine floras, see J. Browne 1983 , pp. 117–27. …
To J. D. Hooker 5 July [1856]
Summary
Troubled by JDH’s connection between Antarctic island flora and Fuegia, which CD sees as part of a general relation to southern circumpolar flora. Encloses list [not found] of plants from Tristan d’Acunha.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 5 July [1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 167 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1919 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … by JDH’s connection between Antarctic island flora and Fuegia, which CD sees as part …
- … a general relation to southern circumpolar flora. Encloses list [not found] of plants from …
- … Acunha. The more I reflect on your antarctic Flora, the more I am astounded. You give all …
- … pp. 359–422. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844–7. Flora Antarctica. 1 vol. and 1 vol. of plates. …
- … Brothers. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1853–5. Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ. 2 vols. Pt 2 of The botany …
To Asa Gray 12 October [1856]
Summary
Thanks AG for the first part of his "Statistics [of the flora of the northern U. S.", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 22 (1856): 204–32; 2d ser. 23 (1857): 62–84, 369–403]
and for information on social and varying plants.
Would like to know number of genera of introduced plants in U. S.
Is surprised at some affinities of northern U. S. flora and asks for any climatic explanations.
Asks what proportion of genera common to U. S. and Europe are mundane.
Is glad AG will work out the northern ranges of the European species and the ranges of species with regard to size of genera.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 12 Oct [1856] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1973 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … the first part of his "Statistics [of the flora of the northern U. S." , Am. J. Sci. 2d …
- … at some affinities of northern U. S. flora and asks for any climatic explanations. Asks …
- … 1985–. Gray, Asa. 1856–7. Statistics of the flora of the northern United States. American …
- … 369–403. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1853–5. Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ. 2 vols. Pt 2 of The botany of …
- … Botanist appreciate the character of the Flora of a country. It is wonderfully condensed ( …
To J. D. Hooker 26 [July 1856]
Summary
Tristan da Cunha flora.
Aquatic plants.
Density and diversity of plants in small plots in Kent, Keeling Islands, and Himalayas.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 26 [July 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 175 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1945 |
From C. J. F. Bunbury 16 April 1856
Summary
Is interested by what CD tells him about his researches and speculations on species, variation, and distribution. Hopes he will not give up the idea of publishing his views. Advises CD on need for caution and candour. Raises some difficulties with "specific centre" theory of distribution.
Author: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 16 Apr 1856 |
Classmark: | DAR 205.2: 218 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1854 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … published a more complete account of the flora of the Cape and of Natal in 1846 ( Krauss …
- … 1844–6. Pflanzen des Cap- und Natallandes. Flora, oder allgemeine botanische Zeitung n.s. …
- … Krauss, Ferdinand. 1846. Beiträge zur Flora des Capund Natallandes. Regensburg. Natural …
- … Cape. It seems clear that as far as the Flora of the Cape is at all connected with that of …
- … stops the extension of the peculiar Cape Flora towards the north, seems certain. Prof. …
- … other characteristic forms of the Cape Flora, in striking contrast to the productions of …
To J. D. Hooker 13 July [1856]
Summary
Has found no case of Huxley’s eternal hermaphrodites.
Cruelty and waste in nature.
CD does not believe in hybrids.
One proven case of multiple creations would smash CD’s theory.
Asks JDH to read MS on alpine and Arctic distribution.
Lyell’s "conversion" to mutability.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 13 July [1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 169 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1924 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Robert Brown . A reference to the manuscript flora of Madeira drawn up by Charles Morgan …
- … the distribution of the existing fauna and flora of the British Isles, and the geological …
- … I have had to get up your New Zealand Flora! As I have to quote you so often, I sh d . …
- … to get up at second hand a New Zealand Flora, that is work. — I am so glad to hear about …
- … it is to read, but well copied out , my pages (about 40!! ) on alpine floras & faunas …
- … arctic & antarctic floras & faunas & the supposed cold mundane period. — It w d be really …
From Richard Thomas Lowe 12 April 1856
Summary
Discusses the flora of Porto Santo in relation to that of Madeira. While these islands have some 20 endemic species in common, there are 7 or 8 species endemic to Porto Santo alone, and 25 common to Porto Santo and Europe that are not found on Madeira. Believes the great difference in soil and climate is enough to explain this: plants common on one island cannot be made to grow on the other. Believes J. D. Hooker has underestimated the number of species endemic to Madeira. There are some remarkable endemic species of common plants in the Dezertas.
The eel is the only freshwater fish on Porto Santo and Madeira.
Author: | Richard Thomas Lowe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 Apr 1856 |
Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Lyell collection, Journal I: 132–6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1852A |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Mason. Geneva: J. Kessmann. Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1847. Floræ Tasmaniæ Spicilegium; or …
- … contributions towards a flora of Van Diemen’s Land. London Journal of Botany 6: 106–25, …
- … Discusses the flora of Porto Santo in relation to that of Madeira. While these islands …
- … 12 April ’56 The Flora of Porto S to . may be stated at from 270 to 280 species (indig s . …
To C. J. F. Bunbury [before 9 May 1856]
Summary
Adds comments to a list of Cape of Good Hope plants which are also European and gives some additions to the list [see Natural selection, p. 552].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
Date: | [before 9 May 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 73: 159 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1617 |
To H. C. Watson [after 10 June 1856]
Summary
Do the plants that are common to Europe and North America nearly all live north of the Arctic Circle? CD bases his question on HCW’s "capital" comparison between relations of Europe to North America and Europe to E. Asia if the intervening land had been submerged. CD has been led to speculate that in the mid-Pliocene the organisms now living in middle Europe and northern U. S. lived within the Arctic Circle. Subsequent movements of this flora with advance and retreat of glaciers would explain present distribution better than Forbes’s vast submergences.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hewett Cottrell Watson |
Date: | [after 10 June 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 52 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1899 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … the distribution of the existing fauna and flora of the British Isles, and the geological …
- … Circle. Subsequent movements of this flora with advance and retreat of glaciers would …
- … in understanding the relations of the Floras of Europe & N. America, depend on the plants …
- … N. America & Greenland, would not the Flora in all probability have been pretty nearly …
To J. D. Hooker 8 [July 1856]
Summary
CD writing species sketch; must cite cases favouring multiple creations.
Requests details on species JDH listed as common to Chile and New Zealand. Notes their genera are mundane.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 8 [July 1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 168 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1921 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844–7. Flora Antarctica. 1 vol. and 1 vol. of plates. …
- … of myself, for I find in introduction to Flora of Fuegia a short discussion on Tristan …
- … looking into introduction to New Zealand Flora. It was very stupid of me. — In my sketch, …
- … Vols. 4,6] Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1853–5. Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ. 2 vols. Pt 2 of The botany …
From Asa Gray 4 November 1856
Summary
Outlines the ranges of northern U. S. species common to Europe. Hopes to investigate the resemblances between the floras of the north-eastern U. S. and western Europe. Discusses routes by which alpine plants appear to have reached U. S.
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 4 Nov 1856 |
Classmark: | DAR 165: 95 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1982 |
To Asa Gray 14 July [1856]
Summary
Asks whether Allegheny Mountains are sufficiently continuous so that plants could travel from north to south along them.
Hopes AG’s work on geographical distribution is progressing, as he has questions on plants common to Europe which do not range up to Arctic.
Are intermediate varieties less numerous in individuals than the varieties they connect?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 14 July [1856] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1926 |
From J. D. Hooker [26 June or 3 July 1856]
Summary
Can no longer make out story of NW. American plants; consulting Asa Gray.
Questionable validity of seed-salting experiments.
Aristolochia and Viscum seem to shed pollen before flower opens.
Ray Society should only do translations.
Thomas Thomson in India has rediscovered Aldrovanda, a rare relative of Drosera.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [26 June or 3 July] 1856 |
Classmark: | DAR 104: 197 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1911 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … formerly comprised part of a circumpolar flora that migrated southwards during the glacial …
- … having been left behind after the flora retreated northwards ( Natural selection , p. …
- … He was co-author with Hooker of the Flora Indica (J. D. Hooker and Thomson 1855). William …
- … impregnation; is this true? That paper in Flora to which you allude seems to be very good, …
To Asa Gray 24 August [1856]
Summary
Rarity of intermediate varieties.
Variability of introduced plants.
Ranges of plants common to Europe and U. S.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 24 Aug [1856] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (36) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1944 |
letter | (47) |
Darwin, C. R. | (27) |
Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
Gray, Asa | (3) |
Watson, H. C. | (3) |
Lyell, Charles | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (20) |
Hooker, J. D. | (13) |
Gray, Asa | (5) |
Lyell, Charles | (3) |
Bunbury, C. J. F. | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (47) |
Hooker, J. D. | (19) |
Gray, Asa | (8) |
Lyell, Charles | (5) |
Watson, H. C. | (4) |
Suggested reading
Summary
Contemporary writing Anon., The English matron: A practical manual for young wives, (London, 1846). Anon., The English gentlewoman: A practical manual for young ladies on their entrance to society, (Third edition, London, 1846). Becker, L. E.…
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 28 hits
- … & imported well worth studying probably— Thunberg Flora Japonica [Thunberg 1784] in …
- … Ryan on marriage [Ryan 1831] (read) Babbington on Flora of Channel Isl d . [Babington 1839 …
- … of the Caledonian Horticultural Society ].— Flora of St Helena 1825 [A. Watson 1825] in …
- … Himallaya & high Peru [Meyen 1836].— Phillippi on Flora of Sicily [Philippi 1836].— …
- … 1781]. Linn. on insects [Linnaeus 1781b]. Forsskahl on Flora of insects [Forsskahl 1781]. Avelin on …
- … trees of America [Downing 1845] 24 th Hopkirks Flora Anomala [Hopkirk 1817] July 8 …
- … ]. (since I read up old) (read) all Leidy, a Flora & Fauna within living Animals [Leidy …
- … Hornschuck Essay on the Sporting of Plants. in the ‘Flora’ or separate [Hornschuch 1848] quoted in …
- … 97 [DAR *128: 169] Wahlenberg Flora Suecica [Wahlenberg 1824–6]— most curious …
- … Ramond Acad. of Sci. Jan. 1826 [G. Cuvier 1830]. Flora of Pyrenees [Ramond de Carbonnières 1799–1801 …
- … 50 c. [Goethe 1837] [DAR *128: 150] Heers Flora Helvetica Tertiaria, translated …
- … [Pitton de Tournefort 1718]. skimmed 27. Gmelin Flora Siberica [Gmelin 1747–69] 1855. …
- … Primitiæ floræ sarnicæ; or, an outline of the flora of the Channel Islands of Jersey, …
- … Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus. 1836. Bemerkungen über die Flora der Südseeinseln. Annalen der Wien …
- … 119: 17b Forsskahl, Jonas Gustav. 1781. The flora of insects. In Linnaeus, ed., Select …
- … 119: 17a Gmelin, Johann Georg. 1747–69. Flora Sibirica sive historia plantarum …
- … 119: 22b Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844–7. Flora Antarctica . Pt 1 of The botany of the …
- … Library.] 128: 8 Hopkirk, Thomas. 1817. Flora Anomoia. A general view of the …
- … Friedrich. 1848. Ueber Ausartung der Pflanzen. Flora 31: 17–28; 33–44; 50–64; 66–8. *128: 177 …
- … London. 119: 18b Leidy, Joseph. 1853. A flora and fauna within living animals. …
- … 128: 13 Michaux, François André. 1803. Flora Boreali-Americana . 2 vols. Paris. *119: …
- … 163 Philippi, Rudolph Armandus. 1836. Ueber die Flora Siciliens, im Vergleiche zu den …
- … natural history of the Himalayan mountains, and of the flora of Cashmere . 2 vols. London. …
- … and physick. To which is added the calendar of flora . London. [Other eds.] 119: 11a …
- … . London. 128: 6 Thunberg, Carl Peter. 1784. Flora Japonica . Lipsiae. *119: 6v. …
- … 21b Torrey, John and Gray, Asa. 1838–43. A flora of North America: containing …
- … Zurich. *128: 169 ——. 1824–6. Flora Suecica . Upsalla. *128: 169 Walker, …
- … *119: 19v.; 119: 16a Watson, Alexander. 1825. Flora Sta Helenica . St Helena. *119: 7v …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin returns the manuscript of Hooker’s On the Flora of Australia , which he has proofread. …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 6 hits
- … it in Plants. I have the greatest curiosity about the alpine Flora of the United States and I have …
- … and hearty admiration. [Your paper on the Statistics of the flora of the northern United States] …
- … and flatter myself I now appreciate the character of your Flora… One of your conclusions makes me …
- … I presume he has been urging you to finish your great Flora, before you do anything else. Now, I …
- … GRINDING AWAY: 1888 In which Gray grinds away at his Flora before suffering a stroke and …
- … 212 My dear Hooker…I grind away at [my] ‘Flora’ but, like the mills of the gods, I grind slowly, …
2.7 Joseph Moore, Midland Union medal
Summary
< Back to Introduction The Midland Union was an association of natural history societies and field clubs across the Midland counties, intended to facilitate – especially through its journal The Midland Naturalist – ‘the interchange of ideas’ and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … and autodidact, with a special interest in mosses; his Flora of Warwickshire (1891) was based on …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Marianne North
Summary
Marianne North was born in Hastings where her father became a Liberal MP. Her family supported Marianne’s attempts at singing and painting as suitable activities for a Victorian lady. After her parents died, Marianne sold the family home and began…
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 3 hits
Essay: What is Darwinism?
Summary
—by Asa Gray WHAT IS DARWINISM? The Nation, May 28, 1874 The question which Dr. Hodge asks he promptly and decisively answers: ‘What is Darwinism? it is atheism.’ Leaving aside all subsidiary and incidental matters, let us consider–1. What the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … himself a single problem–namely, How are the fauna and flora of our earth to be accounted for? . . . …
Biogeography
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Observations aboard the Beagle During his five year journey around the world on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin encountered many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most…
Matches: 1 hits
- … many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most vivid …
ESHS 2018: 19th century scientific correspondence networks
Summary
Sunday 16 September, 16:00-18.00, Institute of Education, Room 802 Session chair: Paul White (Darwin Correspondence Project); Discussion chair: Francis Neary (Darwin Correspondence Project) This session marks the formal launch of Ɛpsilon …
Alfred Russel Wallace
Summary
Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … naturalists of his day, with unsurpassed knowledge on tropic flora, fauna, and native peoples. This …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 1 hits
- … excitement of South American cities, cultures, geography, flora and fauna) Darwin complains to his …
The Letters
Summary
Darwin’s correspondence provides us with an invaluable source of information, not only about his own intellectual development and social network, but about Victorian science and society in general. Letters form the largest single category of Darwin’s…
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- … who provided him with observations on the fauna, flora, and peoples of the world. The correspondence …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
1.11 Laura Russell, oil
Summary
< Back to Introduction This little oil portrait of Darwin was painted by Laura Russell, daughter of Jules, vicomte de Peyronnet. She was married to Arthur Russell, MP for Tavistock; he was one of the sons of Lord William Russell, and his elder…
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- … 1869, when Laura was eight months pregnant with her daughter Flora. They visited Down House several …
Search tips
Summary
In this section: The three basic searches Using filters to refine search Using facets to refine search results What is (and isn’t) in here? How do I… …Find all letters exchanged with a particular correspondent? …Find letters written by…
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- … care. We have manually coded some group identifiers (“flora” eg), index terms such as people, …
Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…
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- … work. When Darwin had read the introduction to Hooker’s Flora of New Zealand in October 1853, he …
Origin
Summary
Darwin’s most famous work, Origin, had an inauspicious beginning. It grew out of his wish to establish priority for the species theory he had spent over twenty years researching. Darwin never intended to write Origin, and had resisted suggestions in 1856…
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- … to Hooker. Indeed, when Hooker was writing his essay on the flora of Australia in December 1858, he …